LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1117

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: March 5, 1997

      Assembly Bill No. 1117 (1R) of 1996 requires the owner of a building in which a licensed child care center is located to test the building once every five years for the presence of radon gas and radon progeny. The bill also requires the building owner to post the results of this test, and any mitigation procedures performed or proposed, in said building within 30 days of the test.

      The Office of Legislative Services estimates that the bill's enactment will have negligible fiscal impacts on the State or local governments. In most cases, the cost of conducting radon tests will be borne by building owners; in cases where such buildings are owned by the child care center, which may or may not be subsidized by public funds, the cost of such testing is still relatively inexpensive. It should be remembered that the bill does not require the building owner to undertake radon remediation, only testing.

      Since the Department of Human Services is responsible for licensing child care centers, it could assume the responsibility of ensuring that the radon tests are conducted pursuant to the bill by incorporating this requirement into its regular licensing and relicensing procedures. By doing so, little or no extra administrative costs should be incurred.

      This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67.